OLA Quarterly Volume 7 Number 1 International Librarianship, Part 2 (Spring 2001) July 2014 Journey of Purpose: Reflections on Philippine Libraries and Librarianship Remy Agudelo Multnomah County Library Recommended Citation Agudelo, R. (2014). Journey of Purpose: Reflections on Philippine Libraries and Librarianship. OLA Quarterly, 7(1), 20-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1573 © 2014 by the author(s). OLA Quarterly is an official publication of the egonOr Library Association | ISSN 1093-7374 playground, a grandstand, and a long promenade adja- Journey of Purpose: cent to Manila Bay. About a stone’s throw from the park is the National Library of the Philippines. It is located on Reflections on Philippine the southeast side of Rizal Park with a total of 26,400 square feet of ground space and a total floor space of Libraries and Librarianship 198,700 square feet. by Remy Agudelo The National Library is comprised of several divisions: Administrative; Asia and Oceania; Bibliographic Services; Multnomah County Library Catalog; Collection Development; Filipiniana; Library for the Blind; Public Libraries; Publication and Special Ser- vices; and Reference. Library collections include mono- graphs, rare books, government documents, films, mi- croforms and other audio-visual materials. The library also operates fourteen bookmobiles and 785 public li- he first time I traveled after so many years of ab- braries. There is an Online Public Access Catalog with sence had a sad note. I was going to attend the last GUI-based library software. Trites for my grandmother. I promised myself that the next time would be a joyful occasion. Well, the dream PAST finally came true. The Philippine library system may have originated at the time of Spain’s colonization of the area. The King of Spain The dreamed-of vacation came during the passage of had dictated that no secular literature was to go into the Republic Act No. 6966, otherwise known as the “Philip- new colonies. The King wanted no distraction for either pine Librarianship Act,” We arrived at the Manila Interna- conquerors or natives, so only religious books brought tional Airport to a beautiful day of sunshine, delightful by the missionaries found their way to the island. King greetings and smiling faces. Morning is the best time to Phillip II complied with this dictate in the conquest and arrive when you can look at everything around and de- control of the archipelago for the spreading of the faith light at the scenery you have not seen for a long time. and the establishment of a closed trading port in Manila. The old airport had been replaced by a new one with shiny polished floors, air-conditioning, and numerous The first book collections came with the Spanish mis- seats for waiting passengers. There were lots of shops, sionaries, one of which was owned by Bishop Domingo local and foreign, catering to the traveler. Manila has been de Salazar. Other collections, mostly academic, followed the principal city of the Philippines for four centuries. It but were gutted by fire. To enrich their collections, the is the center of industrial development as well as the missionaries engaged in book trading with the Chinese international port of entry, and is situated on one of the merchants and brought books from Europe. The intro- finest harbors of the Far East about 700 miles southeast duction of printing was a result of the missionaries’ zeal of Hong Kong. The harbor makes it an excellent site for for learning. Printing skills were borrowed from the Chi- access to inland agricultural areas by way of rivers. nese, and the first printer was a Chinese convert named Juan de Vera. The first printed book was the Doctrina Not too far from the airport is the Nayong Pilipino theme Christiana. park which showcases this country of 7,107 islands en- livened by the astonishing diversity of 111 linguistic, cul- The root of the modern Philippine library may be traced tural and racial groups. Found in the 46-hectare parkland to the so-called Age of Enlightenment during the time of are replicas of six major regions in the archipelago and King Charles III. He introduced a number of initiatives, the Museum of Ethnology, with exhibits of ethnological which resulted in the creation of Sociedades Economicas objects and artifacts of the Philippines’ rich and diverse in every subject field known at that period of time, in cultural history. Spain and in the colonies. Along the way from the airport, we passed the Philip- In the Philippines, Sociedad Economicas were started by pine Cultural Center, an institution mandated by Philip- Governor Jose de Basco y Vargas. A Sociedad’s function pine laws to preserve, promote and enhance the Filipino was mostly the free distribution of books. The creation people’s cultural heritage. Nearby is the Folk Arts The- of the Sociedad signaled the start of a new beginning in ater used for popular performances, which draw large Philippine library history The Spanish government in 1858 audiences. Within the Cultural Center complex is also defined public libraries as the national library, university the Coconut Palace, which displays regional Filipino art- libraries, provincial libraries, and all those which ad- istry in the use of the coconut tree. Over seventy percent dressed public education in general. Combining these of the structure is made from different parts of this tree. different types of public libraries gave rise to the concept of popular libraries in the Philippines in 1871. Informa- A ten-minute ride from the Center takes us to the fore- tion and educational materials would be the main hold- most outdoor recreational area, Rizal Park, named after ings of these libraries, and management was entrusted to the national hero, Jose Rizal. Within Rizal Park are a Japa- the teachers. Group reading and the circulation of mate- nese garden, a Chinese garden, an open-air theater, a rials was encouraged and allowed. Funding would come SPRING 2001 20 from the local and the central government. It was not From 1950 to 1970, the Philippines developed library train- until 1887 that the Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas was es- ing programs and courses patterned after those of the tablished under the Department of Civil Administration. United States with master’s degree studies from abroad. It was a true public library as it received public funding, As the programs grew, nonprofessional staff in post-war had a Filipino scholar as director, and utilized a mini- libraries were replaced by professional librarians. mum of professional staff. This institution was the begin- ning of the Philippine National Library until the war broke The growing number of librarians became members of out in 1898. the Philippine Library Association, the Association of Special Libraries of the Philippines, and the Philippine The Philippine War of Independence, which started in Association of School Libraries. The quest for status be- 1896 against the Spaniards, turned against the Americans gan in earnest when librarians from the University of the and ended in September of 1902. The collections of the Philippines successfully secured for themselves academic Museo were damaged during the war and were initially status. Members of the Philippine Library Association donated to the American Circulating Library, a private sought the help of Senator Eva Kalaw who, in 1966, in- association. However, because the association could not troduced Senate Bill 916, “An Act to Regulate the Prac- assume responsibility for the expenses of the library, the tice of Librarianship in the Philippines and for Other Pur- collection was donated to the American Military govern- poses.” This bill started the seemingly endless fight for ment in the Philippines. status recognition like that of other professions. The American government was committed to the estab- Various associations coordinated their efforts to lay the lishment of a strong public educational system and pub- foundation to raise the standards of practice of lic service in the Philippines through which democratic librarianship and competencies. Their suggestions for ideas were introduced. The restructuring of society was improvement covered the areas of continuing education to be accomplished by the addition of a large number of and training of members through seminars and work- American teachers. These newly arrived teachers endured shops, formulation of standards, and undertaking of difficult conditions and limited resources. The resulting projects to produce materials that would be useful for effort culminated in the development of the first Philip- students and teachers of library science. pine school library system. The number of school librar- ies increased, and the number of books acquired tripled. This struggle for identity was slowed by controversies and political upheavals in 1972 and 1986. Then in Sep- The American pioneers introduced modern library stan- tember of 1990, Republic Act 6966, known as the “Philip- dards while Filipinos contributed to the collection, schol- pine Librarianship Act: Regulating the Practice of arly support and leadership. The foundation of Philip- Librarianship and Prescribing the Qualifications of Librar- pine librarianship was forged by Lois Osborn, Mary Polk, ians in the Country” was enacted. The Filipino librarian and James Robertson in 1914 through the establishment has the distinction of being the first librarian in the world of library courses at the University of the Philippines to be professionalized through the legislative process. and the Philippine Normal School. Scholarships from the U. S. government to train selected students in pro- Provisions of Republic Act 6966 included the meaning of fessional schools outside the country were obtained. the term “librarian.” The scope of practice of librarianship Four students continued their studies at the University is defined in section 2(b) of the law as (1) “the holding of Wisconsin. This trend became the norm for those out of self as skilled in the knowledge, art, and science who would become teachers of the field at the state of the organization, dissemination, preservation, and con- university.